Lost Soul
by Kalkus
Summary: My first story here, and it's centered around Erno 'Alcamee, a disturbed Sangheili Spec Ops in a frost-ridden outpost. Roughly not long before the Great Schism, after numerous Flood attacks. Critique is welcome and appreciated!
1. Awake '1

Standing in a darkly illuminated room, small placed to be called a home, a sanctuary, a resting place for one person. A Sangheli in light blue robes that were unfurled to leave his scarcely scarred chest and arms bare, covering his waist and legs and over-lapping like a cloak all around him. He leaned against the purplish metallic wall. Around him was a comfortable bed, a small metallic stand that came from the wall, not the dull metal floor. A few personal items stored in a foot-locker in front of his comfortable bed, a wall-mounted console next to the door, a window nearby. A soft glow emitted from a unit mounted in the corner of the room, open doors contained his armour.

Sighing, he leaned against the purple metallic wall, and stared at the wall opposite him.

Monotone wall that never shows any sign of changing, as if only to mock his blurred vision, dimly green eyes looked at the wall beside him now, just to take his mind off the bizarre sensations he felt in his body, his shoulder to be exact, where the monster had gotten him and yet he had been spared the fate - two others of his unit had suffered...

...To become liquidised bodies for the parasite. Dim green eyes glared at his bare, balled fist. Snarling, his mandibles form a humane 'snarl', black and yellow armour is hung in the nearby alcove by a gravity-field, now cleansed of the murkier purple and green that had been splattered upon it. The male Sangheli thought to himself now.

_If it were not for my comrades...Prophets rest their souls, I would have joined the parasite's forces as a drone...I can feel it, no...I can HEAR it, I can hear them, it, they, the others...I swear by my honour I hear noises. Voices? Sounds? Whispers? Words? Am I going mad? Or are these but a after-effect to the healing..._

Looking away from his deceptively clean armour, the dim green eyes looked to the re-enforced window, displaying little more than arctic mist that froze the exterior of the window and his room's wall. An outside chill that would freeze the little monsters in place, the moment they set limb upon ground exposed to this land's harsh weather.

Even the cold comforts of knowing how freezing cold the world was literally like, did not give him any sense of peace. He knew questions would be asked, more about anatomies and more moral-based things, he was not one to answer such things, he knew about machines, a little geography, battle tactics, but not questions that politicians would...idrawl/i over as such.

Shaking his head, the male tried to keep whatever shreds of control of his own mind. The moment he was attacked and savaged - several brutal scars over his shoulder and neck attested to this – scars that would forever mark him as a survivor in a horrific situation.

He still felt the occasionally painless moments of agony, where the scar tissue would abruptly feel as if his body was literally being split apart by every screaming cell of purple bloody, where his mind felt like it was being ripped out of his very essence. Where he thought he would go mad at any time and leap upon another Sangheli in insanity.

Shivering from the thought, he moved to slump onto his bed, sitting on his rump, the darkly skinned male put his serpentine head into his hands, a physical attempt to control his emotions as he closed his dim green eyes tight, wanting to shut the world out for a precious few seconds.

He did so with a moment of success, finally willing the invisible source of physical and emotional pain to simply go away. But he shivered once more and felt his scars flare with the subsequent pain, a pain that no soldier would ever know about, let alone survive identical circumstances and live to feel the darkest kinds of hardship.

A muffled, mechanical and soft-toned emitted from the other side of the door to his quarters, making the shivering Sangheli quickly moved his twitching form to slip the top of the light blue robes upwards. To cover his bare, muscled and scarred chest and his robust yet slender arms. Doing so, he made as little noise as possible, even in hers unstable condition, he managed not to alert whoever it was on the other side. Standing up and walking, with a near un-noticeable limp due to a bandaged wound in his left leg, the male opened the door via a few quick console commands, allowing whomever it was behind the door to come in. He waited with a baited breath as the door seemed to open like blooming flowers…


	2. Awake '2

Watching, waiting, he was far from sure which one of the few white robed Sangheli were to again meet him, to meet him like a scientist would a lowly lab-rat

Watching, waiting, he was far from sure which one of the few white robed Sangheli were to again meet him, to meet him like a scientist would a lowly lab-rat. His body shivered, trembled and pained from the current mind-numbing symptoms he had been suffering since that fateful day. An all-too familiar emotion, an all-too clear shiver went up his spine, fear. He didn't want to be poked and prodded, to be examined like a package that could contain something horrific and disgusting to the souls of the Covenant. He didn't want to be pulled apart, limb from limb, organ from organ. He didn't recall being dissected, but it was only a matter of time before the Covenant deem him un-fit for service, and quietly have him 'relieved' of whatever shred of duty and honour he had carried from being found in a curled up position in a hell-hole...

Clutching his head, the male snarled a silent yet harsh snarl as he held his head, the pain in his chest and shoulder having touched his spine with the finger of sublime insanity and agony. Breathing heavily, he tried to concentrate, to step to the side, stepping away from the door, he let go of his head as the pain became once more placid, balled his fists and took several deep breaths, then steadied himself for that was which to come.

It was not long before he met a very welcome face, the door having taken a mere moment to open, but his mind felt the situation last a minute. A petite Sangheli, a little shorter than the disturbed male. Her skin, a soft light blue and dark grey patches, gave her a unique appearance. The lithe female wore white robes with a green sash, her clothes hung to her curves, making her appear quite the eye-catcher for males around. Though the fact that her brother, a rather large and very muscular Sangheli, would quiet easily beat down over-tentative males.

And instantly made him keep his eyes above her neck, usually locking dim green eyes with her own bright blue eyes.

"Erno 'Alcamee, do you remember me?" She gently asked. The soft wind chime-like voice of the female Sangheli was a breath of utter bliss in his private and tortuous hell. He had controlled his breathing, and tried to at least appear as though the agonising moments where his body felt like it would be torn apart and his mind rendered asunder, were long-past. He managed it quite well. But he knew better than to even idare/i to assume that the female was not one to understand empathy.

A few moments passed as Erno 'Alcamee stood, lowered his head to control his breathing, stop the bile from threatening to rise, then looked up, and tried a small smile. "...Yes..." He near-whispered to the female Sangheli, and received a few advancing hoof-falls as the feminine Sangheli strode into his private chambers.

At once he felt like retreating to hide under the covers, shut the world out, but knew this was utterly immature. Whence upon a young life, he was scared to near-death by doctors, he didn't know why, but he just was, no reason given or taken.

But at this age, he stood his ground, abielt slightly nervous of her, and terrified of losing control near her. He was responsible for every action and reaction he conducted and caused. She watched his posture, which much was obvious to Erno, that much was painstakingly normal. She was checking everything she could about him, without even doing much to appear to be doing so..

As if her searching eyes was a mere intrigue, or a compliment to his rather attractive form, no matter how scarred he was, females did occasionally look at him a little longer than they would normally... or so he thought. Maybe they saw the monster that was, orlived in him? Or maybe they just wanted to remain wary of him? He couldn't blame them.

She opened her mandibles to talk, but soon closed them, due to the now-present awkward silence. Erno didn't do anything more than look down, trying to keep his cool, in order to diffuse the bad start to the day. Yet soon, she was back in control, emotions put to the back of her mind as of now. "Erno, would you like to come with me? My friends wish to see you again. To see how your condition…has improved." She also cooed to him, whether she thought him so traumatised that basic speech and adult behaviour was truly decimated or not, was rather difficult to tell. At least from 'Alcamee's point of view.

She had chosen her words very wisely, for she knew how un-settled the Special Operations male was currently, the occasional twitch of his torso meant that he was trying, with great yet subtle effort, to control his shivering, a nervous-system based wound caused this, by her knowledge.

Erno 'Alcamee hung his head again, but soon picked himself up from his self-conscious situation, and slowly nodded to her, trying, at least, to show he was willing to stay alive, not to give in. Even though, for him, the future was bleak and he was blind to good fortunes to be found, whether by godless assistance or half hearted divine powers, he saw very little to look forward to, that much was obvious in his reluctant footsteps towards the door.


	3. Design 1

Erno 'Alcamee knew that, being in this cool sanctuary of the frozen wastes, he should have been comforted by the fortified walls of the Covenant-held base, the crew of the base nodding to him in acknowledgement… The soft visage of the white robed Sanghei

Erno 'Alcamee knew that, being in this cool sanctuary of the frozen wastes, he should have been comforted by the fortified walls of the Covenant-held base, the crew of the base nodding to him in acknowledgement… The soft visage of the white robed Sangheili female by his side. But, unlike the vast majority of the outpost… They hadn't been experiencing something akin to absolute insanity. The cause, he painfully remembered as he and his walking partner turned another silver and purple corridor, was a nervous-based injury that left his body wracking in pain whenever he became stressed… which, due to his condition, his wounds, the recurring nightmares and dreams – where he dreamed of being attacked by his own comrades after being screamed and shouted at – the Special Operations male had no reason to feel comfortable here.

Even though he was being closely cared for by upwards of five crew members, Healers and Priests… medically and spiritually, they were trying to fully understand and would, if they ever could, cure him of his wounds. Another corner, another face with a soft greeting, another few words from the female that led him… he zoned out, thinking… just thinking about this place. His legs automatically moved to keep side-by-side with the light blue skinned female. He eventually snapped out of his revere as she touched his blue-robed shoulder. Blinking once, twice… then thrice. He silently swore to the Prophets that he had seen a patch of twitching flesh glimmer on a nearby wall. He twitched, favouring the now quiet woman with an odd look before slowly nodding for her to speak as he stopped.

_I know I saw that… but I cannot say… I can't… I can't get… that… living hell out of my mind… Prophets help me…_He thought to himself, before he realised that her mandibles twitched then moved, words were spoken in a blur of back-ward sound until he concentrated. "-no? Did you hear me Erno?" She had once-again spoken in her near-cooing tone. That was – in all respectable honesty, begun to grate on the male's already frayed and twitchy nerves.

He heard something about the quick visit to one of the Healers, that was all he had to do here, save for meditating in the few constructed gardens or training. The in-built temple seemed rather inviting, but Erno hadn't wanted to share his fears with anybody. Not that… "Yes…" He began with a near monotonous tone to it, taking the female aback, if only slightly. The male of the pair looked at her ice-blue eyes, dark green concentrating for a moment before the male Sangheili's voice slowly rumbled out again. "I have heard what you said… I am to report to 'Gahusee. He would have results from yet another set of blood tests. To see whether I am improving, or degrading in condition." He finished, silencing the female with a calmer gaze around him than before, and marched onwards while he mentally berated himself for his mild attitude that formed towards her.

Feeling her approach from behind, the fairer skinned female caught up to the inwardly shaken warrior, before keeping by his side, seemingly content to no longer _lead_ him as such. Another few hallways, a gravity lift that not only hinted to what was on each under-ground level, but also made the male, no matter how used to such advanced transportation systems, feel as though his wracked organs were being pulled upwards… along with the stomach bile he tried to keep down earlier. By the time he and his companion were on solid ground, three floors below, he struggled to refrain from emptying the few contents of his twisting stomach. He nearly doubled over, but instead walked tall, expected the… what was her name again? Blinking, he glanced to his side, taking in her patchy skin colouration, and avoided looking below her neck. Her over-protective brother could quite easily break his neck without a sweat, in Erno's current condition. "… Can I ask…" He quietly coughed, twitching for a second mid-stride. "… of your name?" He finished, never looking into her eyes for too long. He wished to live, valued his life… even if it didn't seem to be valued very highly by his on superiors. _I am discovered, curled up and crusted with slick gore, mine, theirs… Were has my honour gone? I keep hearing noises… voices… my comrades, screaming murder… Where has my sanity gone? My nightmares haunt me, they come for me every night… Where has my will gone?_ A moment or two later, to his credit, Erno noted the odd pause in her own behaviour, she spoke.

"Ryga 'Akos… You seem very… talkative today…" She noted, aloud, as if he was either a patient that was deaf

Shaking his head slightly as something after her name happened, which required more of his attention. He noted rather worryingly, that one of his hooves, his left one to be exact, felt odd, and seemingly out of sync with the rest of his striding. He shook the defecting hoof in a subtle manner, bringing back some feeling, which, considering the grazing feeling he felt from his foot, seemed to disagree with his destination. Minor problems with his overall body seemed to happen quite often, whereupon feeling to the extremities vanished and returned with a pang of minor agony. Thinking on that brought him back to the disgusting scar that had been made upon his back… made by that foe.

He twitched once more, blinking, he barely registered Ryga's wind chime-like voice announce that he had gone past a turn in the quiet corridors. Looking about, as if in curiosity, Erno tried a poor attempt at seeing something vaguely interesting, then as he turned, DID see something interesting that had him freeze. Down the hall, past three patrolling guards. He blinked at the some-what distant wall, then only realized that Ryga was staring at him, when he turned back to reluctantly speak to her. He blinked, and merely followed her in silence… like most of the…. Eventful… trip.

Nothing else happened, three minutes later approached a pair of double doors, angled lines of re-enforced glass almost tentatively hinted to what laid within. Being on the medical level of the outpost, he was not surprised when he saw what seemed to be tables with small contraptions lining the glistening, metallic surfaces. Unlike the few patients here, Erno's…. case was different, new, unprepared for. From what he could see, the entire research into his case was being held within one room. Ryga moved forwards, pressing her long and slender fingers against a holo-pad affixed to the purple wall, beside the now-opening doors. The female was the first to move when the doors blossomed outwards, allowing access of the pair into the pale-lit room. The occasional bipeds, white robes with bound red sashes, took notice of the pair, in an erringly simultaneous fashion. Maybe it was just coincidence, or that he was hallucinating… again.

Blinking, he almost allowed a sigh of relief form as one of the white-robed males nodded to the other, then marched around the tables to informally greet the odd pair. "Erno, Ryga. Greetings again, I have made a little progress upon this infliction. Come, I shall show you what I can simulate via the terminals." He spoke in a sombre tone, inquisitive as well wise manner. Being what a human might have called a 'scientist', the man, Srobi 'Gahusee, had reportedly taken far too much interest in the parasite, to simply be left upon the backwater colony Medical college he was previously teaching at. _Almost considered a Heretic… Although I am…Curious too._

He had been thinking for far too long, again, Ryga had seemed to act faster than he did, and had easily followed Sobri around two tables, before coming to a pair of powerful, wall-mounted holo-terminals. Erno soon followed suit, however much he felt nauseous just from the idea of 'seeing' how his wound had effectively mangled his nervous system…


End file.
